Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Chocolate Bread / Cake

Chocolate bread is a delicious bread/cake that tastes great with a cup of tea or as a dessert when served with a dollop of vanilla ice cream on top of it. The process of making this bread is very similar to the pound cake recipe (I had shared the recipe sometime back). Sometime back, I had brought a book named "Cake Bible" by Rose Levy Beranbaum from the library. I found this recipe in the book and decided to give it a try. It was a huge hit at my place. Since then I have made this bread so many times.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly grease and flour a 8 inch X 4 inch X 2.5 inch loaf pan (instead of greasing and then apply flour, you just use a Baking Spray).

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together cocoa powder and boiling water until smooth. Allow this mixture to cool to room temperature.

Once it reaches the room temperature, lightly whisk in the vanilla and eggs.

In a large mixing bowl,combine the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder, sugar)and mix on low speed for 30 seconds.

Add half of the chocolate mixture and butter. mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase to medium speed on a electric stand mixer (high speed if using a hand mixer). Beat for about 1 minute to aerate and develop the cake's structure.

Scrape down the sides. Gradually add the remaining chocolate mixture in 2 batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition.Scrape down the sides in between.Pour the prepared batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with a spatula.

Bake for about 50-60 minutes (baking time might vary from oven to oven) or until the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.Tent loosely with a buttered aluminium foil after the 25 minute mark to prevent over browning.

Once the cake is baked, remove from the oven and let it cool on a cooling rack for 10 minutes.

Loosen the sides with a butter knife and invert it into the greased wire rack.then re-invert it back so that the top is up.

Cool completely before making slices. This cake can be frozen too (cool completely before freezing).

NOTE:

I considered all the ingredients by weight because I believe that in baking measurement is very important:) The cup measurements are as per the US cup sizes.

It is advised to use Cake flour for this cake but if unavailable, you can use ALL PURPOSE FLOUR. The texture will be slightly different but will still taste delicious:)